Eyes of Humanity
by Manwathiel
Summary: Can I really say that I am the master of fire when the fire itself is what keeps me from being human? AkuKai. AkuNami. Drabble Collection.
1. Eyes of Humanity

**Oh, man. I can't believe this. This is **_**not**_** an AkuNami. Something must be wrong with me.**

**Anyway, I'll say this first: yes, this is very short. You know why? Because I'm intending to use this as a place to put the ideas that just aren't big enough to turn into a one-shot. This means that just because this one is AkuKai, it doesn't mean the next will be. I don't think it's hard to understand, so I'll shut up.**

**Anyway. I've been itching to write this particular drabble, so here it is. My first AkuKai. Enjoy. :) **

**Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah.**

**XXXXX**

xX-Eyes of Humanity-Xx

I don't like the look that sometimes passes through her eyes when she looks at me. I get a hollow drop instead of a tug in my chest and it makes the words fall from my mouth like trickling water and I don't like it because I'm supposed to have a comeback for everything. I guess the one thing that I _can't_ retort to is a look from a girl that reminds me of what I used to have. What I lost.

Sometimes I get the overwhelming desire to hold her. Don't get me wrong, though. I hate her and everything about her. I hate the smile that she won't let me see and the hair that makes mine look like a train wreck and the eyes that make me freeze in my tracks. But sometimes when I look at her and hear her voice, I wonder if I could just touch her and a part of her heart would move into me. I couldn't believe that the Princesses of Heart were really as pure as I heard until I met her, so now I can't help but wish she would share that purity with me…

That's when I place my hand to my chest and feel nothing and know that, even if she could, there would be nothing there to hold it.

At night, I don't hesitate to start a fire to keep her warm and I let her huddle beside me, but only because I don't need her running off into the dark again. She sleeps better now, or maybe she is just exhausted, because she dozes off sitting up, but jerks awake when she starts leaning and her head rests on my shoulder. The look that I hate comes back when she utters an apology and I wonder why she feels the need to apologize to someone who had kidnapped her. But I don't say anything and she goes back to sleep.

Except one time, she didn't go back to sleep.

Her head touched my shoulder and I expected the usual, but then I realized she was moving closer and her eyes were wide open. The hollow drop echoed in my chest.

"Kairi."

Her body tensed against mine and she raised her eyes to meet mine and, for the first time, I wanted to look away. I didn't want to see that fire burning behind her gaze. The fire that I couldn't tame. The fire that wasn't mine.

My hand wrapped around her throat when she abruptly moved forward and I could feel her breath on my skin and taste it on my tongue. That stare still wouldn't leave me alone and I wanted to push her away, but my fingers only loosened their hold and my thumb traced along her jaw. Her chest rose sharply and fell, shuddering, and she tried to come closer, but I managed three words before she could close the gap that was already much too small.

"I'm not human…"

The look that I hated flickered like a dying light and her whisper was almost enough to achieve what she had been seeking, "What do you mean?"

I didn't want to respond. I didn't want her to know the truth and I didn't want to remind myself of it. So I repeated, "I'm not human."

Confusion marred the skin between her brows, "Then what are you?"

"Nothing…" My eyes jumped to meet hers, and then I moved my hand from where it was tracing along her bottom lip and placed it to my empty chest, "Nobody."

It was my own heat that warmed me when she moved away and rested on the ground and fell to sleep. The fire crackled before me and I narrowed my eyes at it because I didn't need to remember that it was the only thing that could ever reside in this hollow shell of a body. I didn't need to remember that it was what kept me alive and what made me Nothing and what forced me to tell a girl I hated that I couldn't save her because I wasn't real.

Because I wasn't human.

**XXXXX**

**Told ya it was short. Hope you guys could enjoy it anyway. I'm sort of happy with it. :shrug: **

**Next chapter is probably going to be AkuNami because I can't go too long without them. Hehe. Thanks for taking a look, guys. Reviews are welcome and encouraged, flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment. **

**Until Next Time,  
Manwathiel**


	2. Same Difference

**Hehe. I like this one. I dedicate it to Schmelly Inc. because she is awesome. And because I think she'll like this little guy. For various reasons. You know. Hehe. Enjoy, peoples! Forgive me for any errors I may have missed. **

**Pairings: AkuKai, implied AkuNami. SoKai if you squint **_**reeeeally**_** hard. **

**Disclaimer: Are these really necessary? Should be obvious…**

**XXXXX**

xX-Same Difference-Xx

"Sora will find out about this."

"Oh, I'm scared now."

"He'll kill you when he finds out you kidnapped me."

"You've got me trembling, Princess, stop it."

An aggravated growl. A satisfied smirk.

"You're an ass."

"Thank you. You're a bitch."

Axel glanced over his shoulder when he heard the distinctive sound of a body crumbling to the ground. He half expected to see her sprawled out after having tripped over her shoes or, more likely, her own shadow, but the girl had simply dropped where she was, crossed her arms and legs, and was making a sorry excuse for intimidation through use of a glare. The pyro raised a questioning brow.

"Okay…" He trailed off, perching the backs of his hands on his hips, "What's that supposed to do?"

Kairi hissed between her teeth, "It means I'm not moving."

"Oh really?"

A shriek of protest escaped from the girl's throat when a pair of surprisingly strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and hauled her up at a dizzying speed. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself slung over the redhead's shoulder and staring at the ground moving beneath his feet. Her eyes remained wide as the realization of what just occurred slowly processed in her mind. Again, Kairi shrieked and pounded her fists relentlessly on Axel's back.

"Let me _down!_" She screeched. Goosebumps erupted on her skin when his hair grazed her arms and his hand hooking around the back of her knee was a little too close to her bottom for comfort.

"Why?" He asked. An exaggerated shrug caused her to grip onto the leather of his coat for support, "You're just gonna be difficult if I do."

"…I promise I'll cooperate if you put me down."

When he didn't respond at first, Kairi wondered if maybe he was considering giving in to her wishes. Of course, she wouldn't cooperate and he was stupider than she thought if he actually agreed, but then he jostled her none too gently and she felt his fingers dig into the back of her leg to keep her from falling.

"I don't see what you have against being carried. You complain otherwise. Besides," Even though she couldn't see it, Kairi had a feeling he was smirking, "_She_ always liked it when I carried her like this."

"'She'?" The girl repeated with a scoff, "Who's 'she'? Some other girl you kidnapped?"

A humorless smile curved his lips, "Sort of. More like held her captive. But don't worry, I set her free."

"Well, _that_ makes it so much better."

Axel muttered something that she didn't catch, and then the hand supporting her shifted up her leg. The girl gasped in surprise and a flurry of butterflies erupted in her stomach. The pyro snickered softly.

"She liked that, too."

"You're disgusting."

Another rough jostle and that hand slipped a little further up her thigh. Kairi clenched her eyes tightly and cursed herself for ever wearing a dress so short, "I resent that."

The girl turned up her nose as much as she could while hanging upside down, "Good. And your little girlfriend's disgusting, too, for letting you touch her like that."

"You know, you shouldn't talk about yourself like that."

"…What?"

A puff of warm air blew past his lips and ticked her skin. For a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to answer and that was just fine with her. Whatever he meant by that, Kairi had a feeling she didn't want to understand. No doubt it would utterly disgust her. A shudder rolled down her spine when the thought that maybe he _fantasized_ about _her _crossed her mind because she certainly didn't fantasize about _him_… of course not… especially when she had Sora to think about. Sora, the boy that she grew up with and played with and the boy that left her on an island to sit and twiddle her thumbs while he saved the world…

Her fingers dug tighter into his coat and she forced herself up so she could look at the back of his head.

"What do you mean?" She prompted as a way to distract herself.

Axel popped his lips, "Can't tell you that one, Princess."

"Can't tell me what?"

"That you have a Nobody. Oops! Cat's outta the bag," He glanced over his shoulder with his tongue bit between his teeth. His peridot eyes flickered downwards for a brief second, and then they narrowed when he grinned, "Nice undies."

A shade of red that rivaled that of the pyro's hair colored the girl's cheeks and a cross between a screech and a yelp escaped her throat. Her fist rose up to punch him in the head, but the arm left supporting her gave way and she found herself falling forward again so her chin connected his spine. She heard him hiss in discomfort, but she was more concerned with her own problems than his.

"You're a pervert!" She squealed as she resumed pounding his back, "And what do you mean I have a Nobody?"

"Just what I said," He answered in a sing-song voice, choosing to ignore her accusation and the violence inflicted upon him, "But you didn't hear it from me."

Kairi's lips parted to continue shouting at him- oh, did she have a good deal to say to him- but then she was suddenly being lowered to the earth with his arms acting as a supporting guide and all she could feel was heat enveloping her in an embrace that was both soothing and restrictive. Invasive hands were now welcome to rest at the base of her back and the calculating, serpentine eyes gazed down at her with gentleness that was either uncharacteristic or simply hidden until this moment. The girl found her breath hitching in her throat and, though she would later deny it, she dug her fingers into his shoulders and allowed his grip to press her to his body. The scent of ash and cinnamon engulfed her senses and lightheadedness brought about shadows in the corners of her vision.

"So similar… she liked this, too…," He whispered into her hair. The hands slipped lower to where they had absolutely no right being, but it didn't occur to her to slap them away, "And that…" The words were hardly audible, but they sent shivers up the girl's spine and an excitement to pool in her belly.

"What else…" Kairi didn't recognize her voice when she murmured, "What else did she like?"

The pyro hummed softly and long fingers were suddenly trailing along her cheek, tracing her jaw line, and ghosting across the wing of her collarbone, "She liked everything I did with her… _to_ her."

"Axel…"

The girl hardly noticed when she rose up on her toes and he cradled her cheek in the palm of his hand and he said, "You know, me kissing your Nobody is almost like me kissing you. So very similar…"

_No, no, no,_ Her mind screamed and her body shouted in response, _yes, yes, yes! _This was meant for Sora, but he wasn't here to claim it. They were meant to be together forever, but he would rather protect the world than protect his should-be girlfriend. He would rather be a hero… than be a friend. Kairi hated the man that took her from her home, but she loved that the same man could make her feel things that she was supposed to and never had felt for a perky, brunette boy. Axel… he was right there, holding her in his arms, moving closer and closer and his breath caressed her lips and…

The girl's eyes shot open in surprise when the gentle touch on her cheek became three consecutive pats and the heat was suddenly stolen away. A victorious smirk curved one side of his mouth upwards and his eyes narrowed, crinkling the dark marks on his cheekbones. The Axel that she knew was back… and _oh,_ did she _hate_ him!

Kairi's jaw dropped in disbelief when his hands left her body to perch on his hips and he said, "Similar, maybe, but not the same. Sorry, Princess," He flicked her nose and she wasn't quite fast enough to slap him away, "I prefer blondes."

Even after he had started walking again and irritated her further by patting his hip and whistling, beckoning her like a master would his dog, the girl couldn't convince her feet to move toward or away. While infuriated that he had the nerve to tease her in such a way, Kairi was more disturbed that she had allowed him to do so. He _kidnapped_ her, but a few words not meant for her were able to scramble her mind and turn her into a giggling schoolgirl that dreamed of a perfect boyfriend with a perfect smile and a perfect body.

Axel wasn't perfect. He couldn't be. But… what was wrong with settling for a little less?

"Hey, Princess!" He called and she forced a glare on her face, "Hurry it up or you'll be back on my shoulder before you can say, 'seduce me, Axel!'"

Scratch that. _Everything_ was wrong with settling for a little less. Especially when 'a little less' had red hair and green eyes and a grin that she just loved to hate.

**XXXXX**

**I love writing simple things. It's so much… simpler. Heheh. Inspiration from the Lion King Original Cast Recording. I want to see that musical so bad. :longing sigh:**

**AKUNAMI FTW. So why am I writing AkuKai? No idea… :shrug: Either way, hope everyone enjoyed. Schmelly, hope it lived up to your expectations. :) **

**Reviews are welcome and encouraged; flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment. Thanks for reading!**

**Until Next Time,  
Manwathiel**


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